We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Amy Benson. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Amy below.

Amy , appreciate you joining us today. What’s the backstory behind how you came up with the idea for your business?

I created Afro Aloha because after living in Honolulu for 7 years, at the time, I hadn’t seen anything quite like what I was envisioning in terms of a cultural hub for us..

According to the state of Hawai’i, the black population makes up approximately 4%. I personally believe that number is higher.

In some cities, there are designated areas or districts where you know you can find black folks. For Honolulu, that’s not the case. Many people that live here and visit Hawai’i, especially before Afro Aloha, could find themselves asking, “Where the black folks at?”

For me, there was never a doubt that we existed here. Black folks are everywhere. I knew historically black people had been here and were here currently, but we were spread out in pockets. I was determined to mobilize us in a more cohesive way, increase our visibility, and create spaces for us to connect personally, culturally, socially, & professionally, collectively.

Pre Afro Aloha

As a Nigerian-American that grew up in the Deep South, and relocated to Honolulu from Atlanta, I was desiring something culturally relatable so badly. I was truly oontz oontz’d out. I vividly remember being at a bar like, “Yea, nah. No can anymore.”

In early 2019, I began hosting nightlife functions in Honolulu that centered Afrobeats & other global music. I used some of my earnings from my paycheck to host these functions.

At that time, Afrobeats was still so new to many people living here. The attendance was hit or miss. Sometimes attendance would be so low that it felt like I was renting venues & hiring DJs just for me to listen to the music I enjoyed. LOL.

But I didn’t care if 2 people were there or 100. It was important to me that I consistently provide a space for us. One thing I was certain about, even it was only 2 people, those 2 people felt seen, safe, and had a damn good time.

By Fall 2019, I started hosting private chef dinners where I would invite people that I knew, that didn’t know one another. Just a bunch of dope people that I knew personally. It was my mission to get them in the same room. Essentially, it felt like a private dining club. We’d have conversations, share ideologies & music, and discuss things we were working on, and chop it up about any and everything. Oh and we would laugh. Laugh laugh! We started to build community through those dinners.

It was really empowering and beautiful. It also was so inspiring to learn more about the incredible work people were doing in their industries and the impact being made.

By learning more about one another, we were discovering ways to work together and amplify each other’s efforts. We felt we were finally getting the sense of community that we needed, desired, deserved. I wanted all of us to experience it.

In early 2020, Afro Aloha was officially birthed. Afro Aloha is Hawai’i’s cultural hub for black locals and travelers.

We’re most notably known for creating & designing our annual signature events, Hawai’i Black Entrepreneur Awards, Dripniq Picnic Festival, Black is Art, Juneteenth Cookout, and Honolulu Black Pride.

In November 2023, we’ll be premiering the Afro Aloha Podcast, Hawai’i’s first podcast that focuses on spotlighting Hawai’i’s black community. The podcast will be available on all majoring streaming platforms.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I’m a Nigerian-American creative entrepreneur. I was born in Anniston, Alabama and raised in Birmingham, Alabama. As a kid, I was very smart, inquisitive, athletic, and social.

After finishing high school, I attend the University of Alabama (Roll Tide!). Ultimately I ended up transferring to University of Texas San Antonio where I received my Bachelor of Arts Degree majoring in Communications and minoring in Public Relations.

After graduation, I relocated to Atlanta and began a career in sales, marketing, & luxury hospitality for global brands. As my career progressed, I held positions across industries including consulting, aviation, and Human Resources.

Many of the skills I acquired working in those fields transferred to entrepreneurship with my company Afro Aloha.

Afro Aloha is Hawai’i’s cultural hub for black locals and travelers. We focus on art, adventure, culture, community, entrepreneurship, and wellness. In November, we’re premiering the Afro Aloha Podcast, Hawai’i’s first podcast spotlighting Hawai’is black community.

What I’m most proud about is using my skills to create spaces and opportunities for black people in Hawai’i to be empowered, to be valued and appreciated, and connected to one another and the natural world.. When people tell me that Afro Aloha inspired them to start their business, gave them a sense of belonging, helped them make deep connections with other people, encouraged them to try something new, gave them strength to heal and evolve, or helped them value themselves more, it really makes me feel that Afro Aloha is making a difference.

How did you put together the initial capital you needed to start your business?

When I created Afro Aloha, I was working full time for another company, which was my main source of income. I used some of my earnings from my paychecks to fund Afro Aloha’s initiatives to the best of my ability.

I’ve done just that throughout the course of Afro Aloha’s life span. When my employment status changed during the course of the pandemic, with no true ending of COVID in sight, overtime financially I was tapped out. Between personal living expenses and the cost of doing business, it really felt like I was underwater. My income was no longer there and my savings was dwindling. Not only was my main source of income now gone and savings depleted, COVID restrictions also made it impossible to gather, produce or work events, or even solidify freelance work.

I went into survival mode. “There’s rice at home.” mode. I began canceling subscriptions. Door dashing. I sold personal belongings not only to survive but also to do my best to keep Afro Aloha going. I knew deeply how much impact it was beginning to have on people one by one. During that time, I focused on continuously building community virtually.

Overall, Afro Aloha is largely still self funded. I continue to fuel it best I can and the love from our community, supporters, and people that find us truly keep it going.

I do believe Afro Aloha is entering a season where it’s getting the visibility of potential sponsors and investors that have the eye to see the value in the impact Afro Aloha has already made and the legacy that’s being built.

Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?

My character. Character is currency. It’s possible for people to misunderstand your personality but character is a very hard thing to misconstrue. Character to me is an ideology and a philosophy that you’re rooted in.

I’d also say that me being my full authentic self has also helped build my reputation. I’m a Nigerian, raised in the Deep South, that lives in Hawai’i. My style is unique. I can rock a brim by a black owned local designer, while dressed in traditional Nigerian attire, with a touch of something specific to Hawai’i that’s made locally, with two slugs (gold teeth) in my mouth. Lol that’s just who I am.

By being my full uninterrupted self, I encourage others to do the same.

Integrity is another brick that has built my reputation.. It’s easy for people to feel that integrity is a lost art, especially with the troubled world we live in coupled with the chokeholds of capitalism. To me, integrity is about who YOU believe yourself to be, even when no one is looking.

Contact Info:

• Website: Www.afroaloha.com
• Instagram: @afroalohapodcast
• Facebook: Afro Aloha
• Youtube: Afro Aloha
• Other: IG: afroaloha

Image Credits
April Lawrence